First Kiss Ever
by KSTapp
Summary: Noah's point of view on the movie versions of his and Elle's kisses.
1. Chapter 1

FIRST KISS EVER

I felt guilty. I only meant to tease Elle a little. She never asked for help, instead taking everything on her own shoulders. Her priority has always been looking out for her family, which as far as she was concerned, included Lee. Something I could only just admit to myself that I was a little jealous of. And at this point she wasn't asking me to take part in the kissing booth. She was just asking that I make an appearance.

At the heart of this entire day it was to raise funds for charity. Elle wasn't asking for much. Just for me to show up. She wasn't even asking for herself which made me feel even worse. What the hell, I had nothing better to do. So I made my way to the kissing booth.

When I got there, I couldn't see Lee or Elle. I bought a ticket figuring by the time I got to the front of the line, either my Brother or Elle would have shown up. That plan went flying out the window when the kid at the front of the line offered to let me cut in. What could I do but say thanks.

It was then that Elle made an appearance. Or rather someone shoved her blindfolded through the curtain. This was not what I had expected and clearly not what she expected either. Just when I was reconsidering being here, Elle stumbled. Luckily I was close enough to catch her and see the looks of horror on the girls' faces who had obviously shoved Elle out here as some sort of joke which had backfired on them. I took a guess that it was because I was next in line and not the guy who had let me cut in front of him.

"Sorry. Oh muscles." Elle didn't seem to realise it was me she had stumbled into. I wasn't sure yet if that was a good thing or bad yet. She offered me an out thinking that I was probably hoping to kiss Olivia, although she was obviously nervous as she was rambling on about never kissing anyone and a couple of near misses.

Although the crowd watching us was finding Elle's rambling amusing and I have to admit, so was I, it would be best if I stopped her before she let something really embarrassing slip. So I did the only thing I could given the situation, I kissed her.

I was not prepared for what kissing Elle Evans would be like. Granted her scent was still on my sheets from when she had gotten drunk last weekend and that was causing non-brotherly reactions in me still. Why hadn't I expected the same thing from kissing her? For someone who had never been kissed, she was a quick learner.

She pulled back and slid the blindfold off, staring at me in shock. I'm not sure that I didn't look as shocked as she did. I don't how long we stood there staring at each other before I went in for another kiss. For some reason I needed her to know it was me kissing her. For Elle to kiss me back whilst knowing it was me kissing her, because she had really got the hang of kissing.

We were both breathing pretty heavily when we parted although our foreheads were still touching. That was until we both remembered there were other people watching. The crowd seemed as shocked as we were, that was until they started applauding. It was sort of funny actually.

Elle however was not seeing the funny side of all of this. I guess I could kind of see it from her point of view. Nobody wanted their first kiss to be in front of a live audience. Even if that audience was applauding. "Everyone ... everyone just saw that, didn't they?"

"Come on, relax Shelly. It was just a kiss." Although the crowd chanting my name was not helping. And at this point I think I was even trying to convince myself that it was just a kiss and not more.

"Yeah of course." It was clear that it was something more judging by the look on Elle's face. But I wasn't willing to push my luck and ask her what it was to her.

"All right. So I'll see you around." I handed her the blindfold, which I wasn't even sure how it ended up in my hand and got off the stage as fast as I could without looking as if I was making a run for it.

I stuck close to the booth to make sure that Elle wasn't pushed into kissing anyone else. The different girls who kept coming up to talk to me stopped it from being obvious that I was watching Elle. Where the hell had my Brother got to? Why wasn't he looking out for Elle? Who was I kidding? I would have stuck around to keep an eye on Elle even if my Brother had been here.

Lee walked past about an hour later with a brunette who seemed to find him fascinating. I guess he had wised up to the fact that he didn't have a chance with Mia. But that left Elle without a lift home. I was trying to work out how to convince Elle to accept a ride home on my bike, while faking paying attention to the girl who was talking to me. When I glanced over to where Elle had been packing up the booth, she had run off in the direction of the exit. I excused myself from whatever her name was and started up my bike. With any luck, Elle was jogging home and I'd be able to catch up with her.


	2. Chapter 2

BUSTED KISSING IN THE RAIN

I caught up to Elle just as the thunder began. "How about a ride?" Clearly Elle was not keen on the idea of getting on the motorbike. "Come on Shelly. You know my Mom will kill me if I leave you out here." When in doubt, play the Mom card.

Elle seriously didn't want to get on my bike, but she also knew my Mom would give me hell if she found out I hadn't made sure that Elle got home safely. That was probably the only reason she put the spare helmet on and climbed on my bike. I handed her my jacket as it was getting a little chilly and took off.

She was clearly scared as she was clinging onto me. Not that I minded. The weather was not helping. We weren't even half way home when the sky seemed to open up and pour.

About now I was regretting not driving my car. It was a full blown thunderstorm and my bike wasn't the safest mode of transport. I was having trouble seeing in the heavy rain. "It's getting too dangerous. I'm pulling over." I felt more than saw her nod. We were close to the gazebo so we could wait out the rain there.

We ran across the grass and I ushered Elle inside the gazebo. "You know if we wait out the rain, we should be fine." It looked as though it was easing up a little. The sooner the better. I didn't want Elle to get cold. She was only wearing shorts and a little top under my jacket.

Then out of nowhere Elle grabbed me and kissed me. I pulled away from out of shock. What was she thinking of? But she looked terrified. What was I thinking? She kissed me. So I pulled her back in and kissed her.

"Wait. No, no, no, no. I cannot just be one of your conquests." I felt as though someone had dumped a bucket of ice cold water over me. I knew I had a reputation but this was the first time it had come back to haunt me.

"Is that what you think of me?" I knew a lot of girls thought that of me. It's what made some of them think they had a chance with me. It was never a reason for them to stick around once they had though. I just thought that Elle knew differently.

"It's what everyone thinks of you." Elle at least looked regretful about it. I couldn't believe it. The one time I didn't want a girl to believe the rumours and they were the very reason she was doubting me.

I shook my head in disbelief and moved to the other side of the gazebo. "You wanna know the truth?" We faced each other. It was time to lay everything on the line. "You are the only girl who doesn't fall at my feet and it's driving me crazy." I rested my hands on her shoulders. "It's one of the things I like about you. You're sweet, but you're not afraid to call me out on stuff."

"And here I was thinking I was just your brother's annoying best friend." At least she was joking with me.

"Well, there's that too." In truth, that was the only reason why I had never made a move on her sooner. That and I wasn't sure until this moment that Elle felt anything for me. "Look, I don't knew what all of this means, I just like hanging out with you. It feels right."

"I'm just; I'm just so confused right now." I believed it. She was so adorable when she was confused though. I couldn't stop myself from leaning down and stealing another kiss.

"Did that clear anything up?" Or was I pushing her too far, too fast? For the first time, I cared that I might mess this up. That my reputation would work against me and not for me.

She shook her head and smiled. "No. I think you'd better try again." I was only too happy to oblige. I could spend a lifetime kissing Elle Evans. Just not at this angle. Dropping to my knees was better, but Elle followed me down not breaking contact for a second.

Just when I was thinking if we didn't stop soon this was going to go much further than either of us was ready for, a torch light flashed on us. "Security."

"Oh my God. We gonna die." It was a rather extreme reaction from Elle. But somehow I doubted she had been busted making out by security before.

"Is that you Flynn? I thought I told you not to bring girls around here anymore." I knew Andrew was joking, but Elle didn't. I almost groaned out loud.

"What?" She stood up looking highly unimpressed, while I glared at Andrew. "You just took me to your hook up spot?" I stood up just as Elle took my jacket off and threw it at me. "No, you know what? Unbelievable." And with that she stormed off into the night.

"Thanks Andrew." This, any of this, had not been my intention. I hadn't had a great plan to seduce Elle. But I didn't regret what I had said to Elle or kissing her. Andrew found the whole thing amusing.

"Still mad at you." And Elle came storming back in. "But I'm cold as shit." She grabbed back my jacket and put it on. "And you are taking me home. Now!"

As we headed back to my bike, I heard Andrew chuckle. "I like this one." Yeah, so did I. I just hoped that I hadn't blown it with her. Hopefully she just needed a little time to cool off. The bike ride to her home was certainly quiet.

"Thanks for the ride." She couldn't hand me my jacket back or take off the spare helmet fast enough.

"You know, I meant what I said Elle." I needed her to know it wasn't just a line I used to get girls. She truly was the only girl who didn't fall at my feet and I was crazy about her.

"Good for you." With that she turned and walked towards her house. She was still angry. It was sort of cute though.

"So I'll see you tomorrow." She kept walking. I waited until she got inside before starting up my bike and heading home. I wondered how long it would take for Elle to stop being mad at me.

Lee was home when I got there. "Who was the girl?" I stood in his bedroom door. She must have been pretty special to get him to forget about his best friend.

"Rachel." Lee got this goofy smile on his face. Until he remembered he had been Elle's ride tonight. I've never seen him grab his phone so fast. I waited for him to send his text before speaking. He deserved to feel a little guilty.

"By the way I dropped Elle home." I could see the instant relief on my brother's face. "She's not very fond of my bike though."

"Yeah, well Elle's not like the other girls." Lee had no idea just how true his words were. "She's not easily impressed. It's a good job she's not one of your hook up girls." Lee had always been a little possessive about Elle. I doubted he'd be thrilled that I had spent time in the gazebo making out with her.

It was a good thing Lee wasn't looking at me. I had no idea how to move forward with Elle. She wasn't like anyone else. I had no idea how I was going to make it work with her, but I did know I wanted a relationship with Elle. And not a brotherly one.


	3. Chapter 3

YOU CALM ME

It had started out in my head as a way to be close to Elle and hopefully clear the air between us. Unfortunately it didn't start well when I got jumped by a team of girls in Elle's eye line. She shook her head as she stripped down to a tiny blue bikini which would be featuring in my dreams for nights to come. But I knew I wasn't the only guy admiring the sight.

I played it cool for the majority of the day, but stayed close. It wasn't until it got dark that the real trouble started. "I'm not feeling well Warren." I turned to see Warren trying to drag Elle off somewhere.

"She said no Warren." I'd never liked that guy. He thought he was God's gift to women and was way too pre-occupied with his hair.

"Ok. Ok. It's ok." I felt Elle's hand on me. "I'm fine. It's alright. Can you just take me home please?" I really wanted to wipe that smirk off Warren's face. "Ok, just walk away." Elle was always the one to calm me down. "Just walk away. Let's go." I began to walk towards my car with her. My main concern to get her safely home. "Don't worry about it."

"Hey come on man." Warren just wasn't smart enough to let it go. "It's all good. I guess I'd also be pissed if I was slumming it with my brother's sloppy seconds." He never saw me coming.

Nobody spoke about Elle that way. She had never done anything to deserve being spoken about like that. Warren just didn't like it when girls turned him down, what was happening constantly. The rest of the crowd looked stunned and some of them even afraid. But I didn't have time to worry about them. I had to catch up with Elle who had now grabbed her bag and broken into a run.

"Wait. Elle." She was no longer running but she was still walking pretty fast. "Wait. Elle." She wasn't showing any sign of stopping. "Just get in the car Elle." I knew she could hear me. "Just get in the car Elle." Why was she made at me? I wasn't the one dragging her away from the party. I hit the hood of my car. "Get in the car Elle!" Dam it. Now she was scared. "Please."

I could tell she wasn't sure that getting in the car with me was the best idea. Still she slowly turned around and got in my car. We really needed to talk. I started the car and headed to my favourite spot. I didn't want anyone interrupting us. Someone would tell Lee I had taken Elle home so he wouldn't be worried and go looking for her.

"Look, I'm sorry ok." She still looked a little scared. "What do you think? You think I meant to fall for my brother's best friend?" She actually looked shocked that I had feelings for her. Or maybe she was shocked that I was admitting it. Had she thought that everything I had said the other night was a lie?

"Wait. This isn't the way home." I needed time. Time to let her know I wasn't playing her. Time to be alone with her away from everyone and everything else.

"I wanna show you something." There had never been anyone else I had wanted to share this spot with. Only Elle. I sometimes stayed out all night here when I needed some time away from my family. I mean, they're great but sometimes I just didn't want to be around people in general.

I grabbed a couple of blankets out of the car and led Elle up to the spot when you could see the lit up city. It was my favourite view next to looking at Elle. She had been silent most of the drive and even though she hadn't protested coming up here, I knew she was uneasy about being alone with me.

"How many girls have you made out with in this spot?" Ok, so she was still mad about the gazebo. It hadn't been my best moment, but it also hadn't been planned. Come to think about it, Elle had made the first move in that instance.

"I only come here alone." That had been true. "Until now." She had to know she was special.

It hadn't occurred to me that she would think I was just giving her some line until she chuckled. Oh you are good. That sounds so great when you say it." I guess it did sound a little chessy. "You must know that right?" I shook my head. It hadn't occurred to me before now. "Such a player."

Yeah, I guess it must seem that way. It didn't make it any less true. "You haven't changed." I wasn't aware I was supposed to change. "I mean, what is the difference between what just happened.."

"The difference is you." Also the difference was that I hadn't dragged her up here. If Elle had insisted on going home, then I would have taken her home.

She shook her head. "You're crazy."

"I'm crazy about you Elle." There was no going back now. But I really needed to stop spouting these chessy lines.

"Ok." Wait! What? Did I seriously have a chance? "Ok, here's how this is gonna work." She was seriously considering the possibility of us. "Rules. Number one. No more fighting."

"Done." It was easy to agree to. If Elle were with me there'd be less reason to fight off guys trying to take advantage of her because they wouldn't dare.

"Number two. No more telling me what to do." She was looking very pleased with herself. I just hoped there wasn't a long list of these rules.

"Cross my heart." Again, not difficult to agree to. She never listened when I told her what to do anyway.

"And number three." Thank God there were only three rules. "If we do this, nobody can know." I'm not sure I like rule number three. "Ok? At least until I figure out a way to tell Lee. It has to be that way." Seriously? My brother was the reason for not telling anyone?

"You know you're cute when you're bossy." How was I going to get around rule number three? Wasn't it enough that I had agreed to rules one and two?

Elle laughed. "I'm serious Noah."

"So am I. You're really, really cute." I suppose it would only be until Elle told Lee. Surely my own brother didn't resent me that much.

"Promise?" Elle really was serious about this.

"Hey, I promise." It was only three little rules and I was the winner in this cause I got to be with Elle. We sealed our agreement with a kiss which led to another kiss, which ended when I found myself undoing the buttons on her shirt.

"Um, you know we don't have to." I shifted away from her a little. What was I thinking? I had only just got Elle to agree to whatever it was we'd agreed to. Were we dating? Sneaking around? I wasn't sure. What I was sure of was that Elle had never had sex. She had only recently, thanks to me, even been kissed.

Elle's expressive face showed a multitude of emotions as she made her decision. With shaking hands, she undid my shirt and helped me shrug it off. She was clearly nervous as she kissed me and gestured for me to finish undoing her shirt.

Thank goodness I had brought the blankets with us. I don't know what had changed her mind but I was glad she had, but we needed to take it slow. But just like kissing, Elle was a quick learner. It hadn't been like this with anyone else. Not that there had been a lot of other girls, but this time it actually meant something other than lust. And her breathy little moans were making it awfully difficult to go slow.

We snuggled up under the blankets, both out of breath. I had no idea how we were going to keep this a secret. I just hoped that Elle found a way to tell Lee quickly. Glancing down at Elle, I found that she had fallen asleep in my arms. Maybe it could be fun keeping this our little secret.

All I knew was that I never wanted to let Elle go. And I was beginning to wonder if she felt the same. This wasn't just a one time thing. At least if didn't feel that way, but I could only judge my own feelings. This had been a big step for both of us, even if it was going to be a secret until Elle told Lee.


	4. Chapter 4

SNEAKING AROUNG

If it were up to me, I would have told Lee about Elle and I as soon as I got home. Still the sneaking around had a certain appeal to it. I was going to do this right. I avoided fights, we went on dates, we had a real relationship.

Taking my motorcycle was less conspicuous than the car. Mainly because we'd both be wearing helmets. I knew it wasn't Elle's favourite form of transport, but she was getting used to it. She wasn't clinging as tightly to me, although I never minded that part. Perhaps if I taught her to ride it, she wouldn't find it so frightening.

I had no idea where Elle told her Father she was going or who she was going with when we went out. I just wanted to treat her the way she deserved to be treated. We went out to dinner, to the beach and to the movies. Although we almost ran into Lee at the movies which prompted me to dump a popcorn bucket onto Elle's head while I led her out of the complex.

Watching Elle play soccer was something new. I hadn't realised she was so good at it. Lee had probably mentioned something about it but watching her play as her boyfriend was a whole different experience. I made sure I wasn't seated near her Father as I highly doubted I was the choice he would've made for his daughter. Nobody seemed to notice that I was only cheering for Elle.

It was tricky not being caught. Lee was too busy with Rachel most of the time which made things a little simpler. Still, we couldn't risk getting spotted by anyone we knew in case it got back to Lee.

Being alone together brought its own difficulties. When we were at Elle's house thinking we had it to ourselves, Lee unexpectedly dropped by. I forgot that Lee and Elle treated each other's houses as though it were their own.

"I thought I heard moaning." Lee had heard that? I hadn't realised we were that loud. But then we hadn't expected anyone else to be in the house.

"I was watching porn." Quick thinking Elle. Not what I would have come up with but Lee seemed to buy it. It would have been funny if I wasn't hanging from Elle's bedroom window in my boxers at the time.

"Oh, can I watch?" Are you kidding me? What did these two do when they were alone?

"Do you wanna wait for me downstairs?" Elle was stalling. It wasn't a huge drop from her bedroom window, but I'd still prefer to walk out of the front door.

"Yeah. I'll wait for you downstairs." That was close. Elle had only just closed her bedroom door when I lost my grip on the window sill.

Slightly winded, I looked up to see Elle's worried face looking down at me. I saluted her to let her know that I was fine. Since Lee was still in the house, I quickly pulled the rest of my clothes on and left. I'd text Elle to meet up with me later.

I'll admit it wasn't my best idea to make love to Elle in the science lab. Sure it was spur of the moment and the risk of being caught made it more exciting. I probably should have realised that there was a surveillance camera in the lab.

Just before school was due to finish the next day, I got a text from Elle letting me know she'd be late due to being in detention. Why was she in detention? Then a kid walked passed me talking to his friend about Elle Evans setting off a stink bomb in the science lab.

At that moment I spotted Lee. "Hey, I just heard Elle set off a stink bomb in the science lab. What's that all about?"

"Don't know." Lee shrugged. "I didn't even know that she knew how to make one. Guess I'll stick around so she has a lift home."

"I'll stay." I hoped I didn't sound too eager. " Didn't you have plans with Rachel?" At least I hoped he did. That way it wouldn't look suspicious if I took Elle home.

"Yeah, but she'll understand." I knew my brother was trying to be a good friend, but I needed to find out why Elle had landed herself in detention. If Lee didn't know, it had to be something to do with me.

"There's no need. I have practise anyway." Elle had been going to come and watch but that was out now.

"You sure you don't mind?" Lee looked suspiciously at me even offering, no matter how much he wanted to spend time with his girlfriend. I guess I had grumbled about giving Elle a lift home in the past.

"It's no problem. Besides Mom will give me hell if I don't." I held my breath hoping he would buy it.

"Ok, I'll text Elle and let her know in case your practise runs later than detention." He looked a little relieved. I guess I hadn't offered to help him out much in the past.

"Cool. See you at home." I headed to practise. I had the car today since it was easier than the bike to transport my gear.

I didn't hang about after practise and reached the classroom just as detention let out. "So stink bomb?" Elle rolled her eyes at me. "What prompted that particular science experiment?"

"Did you know there was a surveillance camera in the science lab?" She walked beside me, close but not touching.

"No." Then it hit me. Oh hell, we were on tape in the science lab. "I'm guessing nobody has watched the footage." I kept my voice low in case somebody worked out what we were talking about.

"And they never will." She tapped her backpack. "Let's keep it off of school grounds though. I don't need another detention. The school will call my Dad if I keep this up."

"Yeah, maybe that wasn't my best idea." I unlocked my car. "Even if it was fun. Where'd you learn to make a stink bomb?"

"I googled it on my phone as soon as I spotted the camera." Elle chuckled and leaned over to kiss me hello. Everyone had pretty much left the school so there was little risk of being seen. "You really can find everything on the internet."

"So I hear." I couldn't help but chuckle myself. Trust Elle to save us by using google. "Come on. I'd better get you home before your Dad wonders where you are." That was close.


	5. Chapter 5

ALMOST DISCOVERED

On reflection, Elle's friendship with my brother was helpful in my relationship with Elle. Neither of us had to explain her being in the house because it would just be assumed she was here to see Lee and not me.

Of course explaining why we were making out on my bed would be difficult. I enjoyed the excitement of sneaking around, but a small part of me wished Elle had already told Lee about us. That we didn't have to lie.

Just when I was thinking about taking this make out session a bit further, Elle pulled away. "We're trying to figure out how not to get caught." I thought we had done pretty well on that. Apart from the science lab incident. Thanks to Elle's quick thinking, we hadn't been caught.

"I don't see what the big deal is. It's not like anyone's gonna think that I have a girlfriend." My reputation didn't really lend itself to girlfriends.

"Oh yeah, God forbid anyone actually thinks you're in a relationship." I knew it bothered Elle a little. As long as she knew the truth, that was all that mattered to me. People did talk though and they didn't often care if they were spreading the truth or not.

"Hey! I have my reputation to think of." I couldn't resist teasing Elle. My reputation was part of the reason that no one had figured us out yet. It didn't mean a whole lot to me and sometimes it could be a real pain.

"Is that so?" Elle's pretty face lost all seriousness. I loved this playful side of her.

"Oh, tis so!" I pulled her closer fully prepared to finish what we had started. But that was the moment my Mom knocked on my bedroom door. I hadn't even known she was at home.

Apparently Elle hadn't noticed my Mom was home when she arrived either. Panic crossed Elle's face and I realised there would be no way of explaining our way out of this. Elle was the daughter, my Mother never had. We needed to hide Elle fast. There was no room in the closet because that's where my sports gear was. "Under the bed." Elle dropped to floor and rolled under the bed.

Once Elle was out of sight I grabbed a pillow to cover myself and hoped it didn't look suspicious. "Come in." I kind of zoned out on most of what my Mother said. Until she mentioned me getting into an Ivy League school. I hadn't mentioned this to Elle and this wasn't the way I wanted her to find out.

Up until then my biggest concerned was that she would discover Elle under my bed. I hadn't expected her to pick up clothes from the floor to put in the wash. Luckily she didn't look under the bed. I'm not sure if Elle pushed my sock towards her of if my Mom actually reached it, but regardless we still remained in a secret relationship and I could start breathing again.

"Do me a favour." What sort of favour could my Mom possibly want from me? I hadn't gotten into a fight since Elle and I had hooked up. "Be sweet to Elle. She kind of has a crush on you." Wait. What? All of this time I had thought my feelings had been one sided.

"Really? I had no idea." I was so not going to let Elle live that one down.

"Of course you didn't. Boys never do." I waited until my Mom left my room before cracking up laughing. How had I not notice that Elle had a crush on me?

"Shut up." Elle thumped the underneath of my bed before crawling out and climbing back on my bed. "Elle has a crush on you." Then she asked me what college I had gotten into. She hid or at least to try and hide her feelings well, but I could tell she wasn't looking forward to me going away to college anymore than I was.

I wished she could go with me, but that couldn't happen. "We need to get you out of here and lucky for you I've got your escape route all figured out." I tugged her off of my bed and led her onto the balcony.

She looked down at the trampoline and then back at me. "You've got to be kidding me." This was a popular form of leaving the house for both Lee and myself. Not so much for Elle.

"Or we could just go tell Lee now." I was good with either option. Apparently Elle preferred option number one. I hadn't considered that she would bounce so much that she would end up in the pool until I heard the splash. I was concerned for a moment that Elle may have gotten hurt.

"Hey, are you still wearing your clothes." Hearing Lee call out to Elle, I knew she was alright. Quickly sending her a text, I started working on my homework. With any luck Elle and I could meet up later. I didn't want to waste the time I had left with Elle before I headed to college. Who knew if we could make a long distance relationship work? But I was willing to try.


	6. Chapter 6

AND THEN IT ALL WENT TERRIBLY WRONG

On reflection, we should have just come clean with Lee from the start. But Elle hadn't known how to break the news to Lee and I didn't realise that it would be such a big deal or that my Brother resented me so much. However my biggest concern was that Elle would choose Lee over me. Mainly because I couldn't see why we couldn't both be part of her life.

We had been laughing in the garage and then Elle fell reaching for my toolbox and that's when it went terribly wrong. I was tending to Elle's face when Lee got home. Truth be told, we'd both completely forgotten about Lee.

She didn't even flinch when I cleaned the cut on her cheekbone. "When did you become such a Doctor?"

"When I started getting into fights." There was no point in lying to Elle. She knew me better than anyone. Besides she had been there for my first fight. "You kind of learn to take care of yourself when that happens."

"Why do you get into all of those fights anyway?" Elle seemed to genuinely want to know. I just wasn't sure that I had an answer for her. At least not a good one.

"I guess it's just how I'm wired ." Sometimes I really wasn't sure why I got so angry. Something just set me off on any given day.

"I don't believe that." Strange how everyone else did. Including my own family.

"My Parents even sent me to see a couple of councillors." I dared to look at Elle, surprised to see a shocked look on her face instead of a knowing look. "But you know, we're all fucked up one way or another right?"

"You could change." Elle said it with such conviction that I almost believed it myself.

"You think I can change?" Nobody else did, hence the councillors.

"You're Noah Flynn. I don't think there's much you can't do." No one had ever had this much faith in me before or ever.

"Hey Noah, have you seen Elle?" I had been enjoying my time with Elle so much that I forgot that Lee was due home.

"Hey." Elle and I sprang apart. We couldn't have looked more guilty if we tried. Perhaps Lee wouldn't notice.

"What's going on here?" So much for hoping he wouldn't notice. "Jesus, what happened to your face?" Or that Elle was hurt.

"Oh, I had an accident and Noah offered to help." Elle looked so hopeful that Lee would just accept her excuse and just leave.

"Did you do that to her?" Neither of us had expected Lee to jump to that conclusion and quite honestly, I had not given him any reason to jump to that conclusion since Elle and I had gotten together.

"What did you just say?" I had never thought that my Brother thought so little of me.

"I said, did you do that to her? Did you hit Elle?" Lee was serious. It was insulting how serious he was.

"You really think I would hit her? I know that my temper got the better of me sometimes, but I would never hit Elle or any other girl.

"Well, I wouldn't put it passed you." Wow, my Brother really thought that I would sink that low, that I was that evil.

"Hey, no, no, no. It's ... Lee, I'm fine. I just tripped in the garage and I was looking for you." Elle, always the calming influence between the two of us.

"You really expect me to believe that she just tripped?" Lee was really determined to think the worst of me. Had he forgotten how Elle used to stand up for him against me when we were kids?

"Get a clue Lee. You weren't even here." How was I supposed to fix this when Elle didn't seem to want to let Lee know about us. Not that he seemed willing to listen to anything at the moment.

"I swear to God if you laid a hand on her..." Lee was out of control. How was I the one who had been sent to councillors?

"Alright, that is it!" I had, had enough of being accused of beating my girlfriend up. Especially when it was by my Brother.

"No, Noah. Hey stop!" Elle stepped in between us. "Noah, look at me. Look at me." The moment I looked at her, the anger faded away. Elle took the opportunity to drag Lee out of my room.

A few minutes later Elle came back into my room alone. "Look, I have to tell him tonight." At last.

"Yeah, it's time." It was long past time. "That way I can take you to prom." I hadn't even realised that I wanted to go to prom until there was a possibility of taking Elle to it. Clearly neither had Elle judging by the way her face lit up.

Figuring I'd grab a last kiss before Elle broke the news to Lee, it seemed Lee saved either of us the trouble by picking that moment to come back in the room. "What the fuck!"

"Lee, I can explain." All of this time, I thought Elle had been overly cautious in regards to my Brother's reaction to our relationship. Turned out, she had been down playing it.

"Unbelievable." And with a last look of betrayal, Lee stomped out of my room. Why was he so mad?" He was acting as though I had stolen his favourite toy and broken it.

"Wait! No Lee!" Elle started after Lee. I figured she shouldn't have to take all of the blame so I followed. "No stay. Stay here please. Let me handle this."

I stayed put for a moment, thinking that possibly Elle would be able to calm Lee down, when clearly my presence merely aggravated him. But she shouldn't have to shoulder all of the blame. There were two of us in this relationship.

Making my way downstairs I reached them just in time to hear Lee. "Sounds like I wasn't meant to find out about this at all."

"Hey, lay off Lee. It's not like it's all Elle's fault." Lee was behaving like a five year old throwing a temper tantrum and Elle looked like a puppy who had been kicked.

"You! Don't even get me started about you ok. Telling other guys to stay away from Elle to protect her and there you are treating her like some slut that you picked up at the club." Well, at least his anger was now directed at me instead of Elle.

"You have no idea what you're talking about." Considering Lee had only just found out about Elle and I, he sure had a lot of opinions on how our relationship worked.

"You're trying to tell me that you two have not slept together." Ok, lucky guess. "I knew it! So you really have just been fucking my Brother and lying to me."

"No!" Elle look horrified. That was a low blow from my Brother. The whole reason Elle hadn't said anything was because her friendship with Lee meant so much to her. Because she was considering his feelings about both of ours.

"Ok Lee. That is enough." Some friend Lee was being to Elle. Couldn't he see how hurt she was?

"No it's not enough. She has no clue what she has gotten herself into with you." I would've thought that my Brother of all people, would know my reputation was mostly a lie.

"That's bullshit. You're acting like a hurt little bitch." Not to mention using my reputation as a weapon against his best friend. I didn't expect Lee to throw a decent punch, but I certainly felt it. Ignoring the instinct to throw a punch back, I threw Lee to the ground and held him down.

"Noah, get off him." Why? So Lee could take another shot at me? No thanks.

"Stop. That's enough." Lee still trying to fight me would have been laughable if Elle hadn't been sobbing behind me. "I'm not letting go until you calm down." It seemed to suddenly occur to Lee that I wasn't fighting him. He stopped struggling long enough for me to get off of him, before he stormed off to his car with Elle running after him.

I waited long enough for Lee to leave before approaching Elle. "Elle, look it's ok. He'll get over it." Lee just needed some time to cool down and realise that we could both be part of Elle's life.

"What? Why did you come downstairs? I told you to stay inside. It's like you wanted to make things worse." What the hell? When had this become all of my fault? I hadn't been the one who wanted to keep us a secret. "What is wrong with you?"

"You can not pin all of this on me." I knew Elle was upset but why was I the bad guy in all of this? She had, had plenty of opportunities to tell Lee about us.

"Just leave me alone." She said it so coldly that I knew that there was no reasoning with her right now.

"No problem." Clearly all three of us needed some time. My presence at home was only going to make things worse right now. So I did what I always did when I needed time to think. I got on my bike and rode until I cooled down.

Everyone seemed to be dead against us, but it didn't change how I felt about Elle. I didn't know if our relationship would survive me being away at college, but I wanted to at least try. I loved Elle Evans and there was no turning back for me. The problem was, at the moment I wasn't sure if Elle felt the same.


	7. Chapter 7

TALKING TO THE FATHER

I needed time to think and Elle needed time as well. So I cut myself off from everything and everyone. Probably not the best decision. Not that I was thinking straight. The longer I stayed away the harder it was.

Elle had been so cold and Lee so angry. I hadn't meant to fall for Elle. I also hadn't meant to make my own Brother resent me so much. I needed to make things right with Lee, but I didn't want to lose Elle either. This was all a huge mess.

Probably the best thing to do or at least the best place to start would be with Elle's Dad. After all, Lee would still be my Brother tomorrow whether he liked it or not. It was time for me to go home anyway. My Mom would be freaking out by now. Dad would be furious. Elle would be at practise so I would be able to talk to her Dad if I headed home now.

I got to Elle's place just as her Dad got to his car. "Hey Mr Evans." I was nervous. There was no knowing how much or how little he knew or how he felt about me seeing his Daughter. With my reputation, I doubted he would be thrilled about it.

"Where have you been Noah?" That was the trouble with our parents being friends. They talk to each other. A lot. After all, Elle's and my Mothers had been best friends.

"I had to get away and think. I um I'm on my way home now." This was like admitting I'd done something wrong to my Father and I couldn't stand the look of disappointment on Mr Evan's face any more than I took stand it on my own Father's . It must be a Dad thing.

"Good. Listen Elle's not here." He knew. I could tell from the look on his face, but I got the impression that he had been suspicious before Lee had busted us. I guess we hadn't been as clever as we had thought we had been at keeping our relationship a secret.

"I'm actually here to talk to you." This must be how guys felt when they talked to their girlfriend's Dad when they wanted to marry their daughters.

"Oh?" Judging by the look on his face, the same thought was occurring to Mr Evans.

"I just. I wanted to apologise. About everything. I shouldn't have let it happen." Although I'm not sure if I could've stopped it. My feelings for Elle hadn't been fleeting and I had tried to fight them, unsuccessfully. "It was all my fault. Not Elle's. But I'm not sorry that it did happen. Or for the way I feel about your daughter." I had never felt the way I feel for Elle for anyone else. She had always been different. Special.

"Ah Noah." That was not a good start. "I can't say I support the two of you." Nope not good at all. "I can't, but it's gotta be Elle's choice." Maybe there was some good in this. "I just think that Elle is gonna have to figure out what's best for Elle."

"I understand." The problem was, I didn't know where I stood with Elle at the moment. I knew how I felt about Elle, now it was time to find out how she feels about me.


	8. Chapter 8

THE PROM

It appeared once I got home, that Lee and Ell had made up. I was still working on how to get Elle back without ruining their friendship. When had we become a threesome instead of a couple? I had been looking forward to taking Elle to the prom. Maybe it wasn't too late for that. I might not be able to take her to the prom, but perhaps I could prove to her at the prom that we were meant to be together. Maybe I hadn't lost her altogether.

First I needed to get a tux and then I needed to figure out how I was getting Elle back. Lee still wasn't speaking to me. But that wasn't unusual. We were frequently on non speaking terms. The joy of being Brothers.

Turned out the prom committee had provided me with the perfect opportunity. They had set up a kissing booth as part of their decorations. Lee and his girlfriend had grabbed the opportunity to recreate their first kiss. Now here was my chance.

Elle looked gorgeous in her peach coloured dress. I hadn't counted on the shocked, uncomfortable look on her face though when she spotted me. "Elle, I think you're next up." I ignored the shocked gasps around us and the evil look Lee was shooting me. For a split second it was just Elle and me.

"I'm sorry Noah. I can't." And then she was leaving. This was not the way it was supposed to go. At the very least I thought Elle would be happy to see me. Lee, not so much.

"No Elle wait please." I needed her to stop. "Elle." And she did. Now what? I clearly hadn't planned this out as well as I had thought I had. I hadn't considered that she might not want to see or that since she had worked things out with Lee, we might not be at that stage yet.

"Why? Why should I?" Ok, I hadn't expected any of this. Conceited of me, maybe.

"Because I love you." Time to put all of my cards on the table. "Standing here, in front of everyone, I'm telling you that I love you." This was a big deal for me. I barely told my family that I loved them and that should have come easier to me than telling Elle. I had even told her Father that I loved her. Surely that should win me some points.

Elle's eyes filled with tears, and not happy tears. "I'm sorry. I just can't keep hurting people I care about because of you." Typical Elle, thinking of everyone else and not of herself. But who were we hurting? Who was so selfish that they wouldn't allow for us to be together and happy? "Ok, nobody wants us to be together."

"Well, that may be true, but what do you want?" To hell with everyone else. Who were they to tell us who we could love?

"I want." For a moment I thought she was going to say 'us' or 'our relationship'. Anything that would signal we still had a chance together. But she didn't. "I wanna go." And then she turned and ran. Damn, that woman could sprint in high heels.

"Elle." I barely registered Lee's girlfriend running after Elle. When I turned to look at Lee, I guess I should have expected the look of disbelief on his face, that I would have tried this at prom. But I honestly didn't. And then he too ran after Elle while I stood there is shock.

I was left standing by a kissing booth surrounded by people awkwardly looking anywhere but at me. It hadn't worked. Lee probably hated me even more than he had before and Elle was running from me. Why? What was so wrong about us being together?

There was no reason for me to stick around. The only girl I wanted to dance with had left and for once in my life, none of the other girls were even trying to get my attention, let alone dance with me. Ironic really. The number of times I wished people would leave me alone; I had still thought the one person who counted would still be by my side. But she wasn't. I was truly alone.

Perhaps this was the best time to head to Boston. Get everything set up to start at Harvard. After all, there was nothing and no one keeping me here. Not anymore.


	9. Chapter 9

Birthday Wish

I hadn't intended to stick around for Lee and Elle's birthday party but I wanted to see her blow out her candles, maybe make a wish. I needed to make sure she was happy, so I stayed out of sight and watched from my bedroom window.

She was putting on a good act, but I saw it drop when she thought no one was looking. The brightness of her smile faded a little, the spark of joy in her eyes disappeared. Was she missing me as much as I was missing her? Was it my fault that her joy at her birthday was somewhat dimmed?

Finally I couldn't watch any longer and started to pack what I was going to carry on the plane. It was time I left and started my life at Harvard. There was no point in me sticking around if Elle wanted nothing to do with me. So I was a little surprised when Lee walked in my room a few minutes later. "Hey?"

"So Elle loves you and its making her miserable not being with you. She's heading to the airport to see if she can catch you before you get on the plane." Lee started taking his costume off. "And you'll need this."

"Why the change of heart?" Wait a minute, why did I need Lee's costume. And come to think about it, why didn't Lee just tell Elle I was in my room. He was acting weird. Weirder than usual.

"Rule number 18." Lee shrugged. "Hurry up. Elle's waiting for me in the car. I think she's making a big mistake wanting you, but I just want her to be happy. Don't forget the mask."

Not waiting for Lee to change his mind, I changed into his costume which was a little small for me and went downstairs to where Elle was waiting in Lee's car.

"Here we go. Thank you for doing this for me." Elle had no idea I wasn't Lee. Clearly she hadn't noticed that the costume didn't quite fit.

"No problem." Surely she would notice my voice was different.

"You know, I just think the hardest part was seeing Noah's face at the prom. Gosh, I wish I had just told him then." Ok so she wasn't noticing the difference in Lee's voice, that it was mine or that I was wearing a mask when Lee hadn't been. "You know what? No matter how he feels now I'm just gonna find him and tell him how I feel." Well this was enlightening.

"You just did." Best to let Elle off the hook. I took the mask off delighting in the shocked look on her face.

"Oh my God!" Of course she chose that moment to take her eyes off the road and nearly ploughed us into an oncoming vehicle.

"Jesus woman!" I pulled the steering wheel so that we stayed on the right side of the road. "Pull over! Pull the car over! God you're trying to kill us."

"I was not expecting." The car safely pulled over and Lee's precious car still in one piece. "Oh my God, like what? Hi. I thought you were leaving for Harvard." Her ill strung sentences were amusing and clear that she genuinely thought that she had been in the car with Lee.

"Yeah, I was planning to but I decided I had to see you one last time before I went." And it had been so worth it.

"Noah." This is how I wanted to remember Elle. Looking at me as though I was her whole world.

"And then Lee came upstairs and he told me everything." In so many words.

"And the whole switch-a-roo was his idea?" Clearly it wouldn't have been my way to go.

"Yeah, classic Lee huh?" My Brother was smarter than I had ever given him credit for.

"Yeah." Elle knew better though.

"He said something about rule number 18 and whatever." I had no idea what rule number 18 was, but I had a feeling that I should be happy about it as it had clearly led to Lee's change of heart.

"Thanks for staying a little longer." I had missed Elle's sweet smile. More than I had even realised. The smile that she seemed to save just for me. Or so I told myself.

"Well, I had to see you blow out the candles on your cake." I just wished I could have been beside her and not watching from my bedroom window.

"Happy Birthday to me." Something seemed to occur to Elle as she suddenly got serious. "So what about Harvard?"

"I don't want to talk about that right now." Harvard was something I didn't want to think about now that I had gotten a second chance with Elle. "You know, I wanna know what it was that you had to tell me." I needed to hear her say the words.

"Oh um. Sitting here, in front of" she glanced around the car. "No one in particular, I'm saying I love you."

"And I love you." This was so much better than in front of the prom crowd. We were close to where we had our first non-kissing booth kiss. It seemed fitting to go back there for a moment alone before heading back to the birthday party.

Kissing Elle, I felt like a man left in the desert without water, finally finding a lake. Finally everything was working in our favour. I only had one question which I would ask Elle about much, much later. What was rule number 18? Right now though, I never wanted to stop kissing Elle.


	10. Chapter 10

Long Distance

Elle and I spent every moment together until I had to leave for Boston. But it all went too quickly. It wasn't enough. I didn't know how we were going to make it work long distance but I at least wanted to try.

I managed to convince my Mom to let Elle take me to the airport. I would be back for the holidays and I didn't want a big fuss at the airport. However I did want to squeeze every last second out of my time with Elle.

"Good bye." The way Elle said those two little words, it sounded as though we would never see each other again. That was not acceptable.

"Come on Shelly. Don't say it like that. I'll see you soon and you can come and visit. We can make this work." I really believed that. I had to believe that.

"OK stop. Don't say anything. I just want to be with you for a few seconds more." It killed me to see her so close to tears. I wanted more than seconds with her.

"You are cute when you're being bossy." At least that got a laugh out of her and she was cute when she was being bossy. I had known that since we were little.

"And don't turn back for a final wave. That is way too cheesy and romantic." I knew she loved it when I was cheesy and romantic. "Even for me."

I did the only thing I could. I kissed her and held her hoping she knew how much I loved her and partly because I just didn't want to let her go. But it was time to go. I winked at her as I turned and walked to the escalator. I was tempted once at the top to turn and look at her one last time, but Elle was right. It was way too cheesy.

So I settled for waiting until I boarded my plane and stared out of the window. Hoping to catch a glimpse of Elle riding my bike home. Luck was in my favour because there she was. The view was spectacular. I would miss her and I was already longing for the first holiday but we had gotten more than I thought was possible.

It was going to be a long year, but I had faith in Elle and me. This was not the end. Elle would always have a piece of my heart.


End file.
